Negative publicity will scare tyre manufacturers away from F1

Formula 1 teams will only have themselves to blame if they are left without tyres next year, according to a leading commentator.

Pirelli’s increasingly vocal Paul Hembery has warned that the sport should “find someone else” if the rules and the criticism are not tempered to better treat F1’s official tyre supplier.

Marc Surer, a former driver from Switzerland who is now a prominent German-speaking commentator, said alternate marques like Michelin and Bridgestone could enter F1 “at short notice” to replace a departing Pirelli “if they wanted to”.

But would they want to?

Surer pointed out that Pirelli’s tenure since 2011, and the last few months in particular, have been characterised by extreme criticism.

“That was not very clever of the teams,” Surer told Germany’s Sport1.

“After all, F1 costs a tyre manufacturer a lot of money, but if all they will get is bad publicity, then that is absolutely a deterrent,” he concluded. (GMM)